Cyclepath Oakville Race Team report 12

Last weekend saw the Warkworth O-cup race north of Cobourg.

Our B team had Brad, Francois, Gary & Jay in attendance.

Here are Brad & Francois’ versions of events…

“ Francois and I rode out in his nifty Siena.. little over 2 hours...
once there we met Gary & Linda, with Jay pulling in a little later...
race rides out from the town arena and gets going on the ensuing
climbs... the Vet Bs were set to do 3 laps for 75kms... the
organization of this race one of the best so far... lots of
volunteers, lots of police... nice good-sized pins.
... a pre-race spin made it clear this was going to be constantly
rolling up and down... and so it was... there was not one killer hill
that crippled, it was the cumulative effect combined with the heat
that was going to make the legs wubbery... and so it would.
... the Vet B/C/Ds (and women) started after the Vet As (doing 4
laps) and the Senior 1/2s (riding till tomorrow?)... it was
crowded... and with the threats of DQs for taking an advantage in
crossing the yellow line, it was tough getting up in the group... we
were nervous something was going to go early and we would not be able
to respond... but eventually things started to sort out on the slow
opening lap, and Francois, Gary and I were breathing easier as lap 2
got cracking... Jay packed it up after the first lap to get some much-
needed rest.
... the lap 2 pace started placing some strain on the group and some
fell off... but we held our own as Westhaven Homes, Pavan, and a
couple of other guys started looking for a break... end of lap 2 and
Gary's back tightened up... leaving Frankie and Bwadly patrolling.
... somewhere in lap 3 Charlie Squires and a Pavan(?) rider got a
small gap... the rest of the group chased off and on... but
eventually decided to race for 3rd.
... the final sprint is uphill after a long descent and hard right
turn... both Francois and I were well positioned for a run at it...
Francois may have taken off a little early, and eventually got caught
in the main group I believe... I waited a bit longer... went wide-
side and slinked into a 7th place finish, 5th in the group sprint. We
didn't stick around for the final results but I hope to enjoy seeing
the results of my first top 10 in an O-Cup RR ... unless I got DQ'd.
Yikes!
Perfect day for a race ... terrific course... hot weather... well
run... a bit far unfortunately.
Francois did all the driving and supplied perfect company. Thanks. “

“Plus my two cents worth.
First, I have to say that Brad ran an awesome race never being
farther back than 10th or 15th and keeping it all together for the
finish. I predict that we will be hearing a lot more from this lad.
With the yellow line rule having been emphasized and underlined,
moving up the pack was a bit challenging. Thank goodness we had the
shoulder.
After fighting my way up during the first part of lap one and getting
boxed in and then drifting back, I decided to chill at the back of
the pack and take it easy for the remainder of the lap. OK, this put
me far from the action and made it impossible to cover any break but
it was actually quite easy and enjoyable to just coast downhill and
then climb back up at my own pace. The pace was fairly slow. There
was a crash mid-pack however that forced us to chase a bit but
nothing too drastic. When I passed the wreckage, which happened on
what I think was the only bridge on the course, one rider was hanging
over the railing and getting back up; ouch, that could have hurt!
By lap two, I decided to get with the program and to blah, blah,
blah, middle of the pack blah, blah, blah, for the third lap.
Lap three was a lot livelier with a few attacks and a generally more
stretched out pack, which made it easier to move around - provided
one was willing to put in the effort. I had this idea that whoever
could get to the last corner in front – following the long descent –
would then simply have to sprint to the finish, so doing this became
my objective. Well, it worked until I rounded the corner in my 53 X
17, stood up to sprint and then realized “wow, the finish is a LOT
farther than I thought”. So after blowing up and watching our man
Brad sprint by on the left, I sat up and coasted to the finish
(pedaled actually since it was uphill). Live and learn.
All in all a great course with great weather; can’t wait for next
year.”

Great race guys.  Brad did get 5th in the bunch finish for a super
7th overall!










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